Tag Archives: Patience

It’s been a long week. The week-end was a bit boring, as on Friday night, my computer suddenly caught a bug or one that had been there all along was activated. The startup screen suddenly wouldn’t work anymore, the screen would first turn purple and then black, and the computer wouldn’t shut down properly. My husband came around on Saturday to try to fix it. This is the newest of three semi-working laptops I own. The oldest still has Windows XP on it and has a broken Enter key. The middle one, I spilled tea over two weeks ago, destroying the keyboard and making the computer essentially useless. My husband has already ordered a new keyboard via eBay at his go-to laptop keyboard shop in Hong Kong, and I’m hoping that in a few weeks, I can use this laptop at least as a spare laptop again. The newest, this one, he could fix only partly. I now have most things I’ll need on a regular basis on my desktop, and the shutdown issue is solved. The screen still turns purple and black, and my husband found out it happened whenever my screen reader starts. Someone from Freedom Scientific, the screen reader company, will have a look on Tuesday.

In the meantime, my other hobby besides the computer that I can do mostly independently is looming. Unfortunately, I broke my loom last week Friday and, though I ordered a new one immediately, the stupid people at the online store first forgot to package it along with the other supplies I ordered, which I therefore did receive. Then, when I sent them an extremely formal E-mail asking them to send the loom, they replied with an E-mail almost in text speak, saying they’d resend it. Yesterday, I got an E-mail that they’d sent it to the wrong address and the recipient would forward it to me. The store has too cute supplies not to order there again.

With all this waiting, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I choose “patience” as my word for the week. It’s only been as of yesterday that I can almost fully use my computer. On Tuesday, I ordered a cheap loom along with some lovely looming beads at one of my favorite online jewelry-making stores. It arrived this morning, and I’m so glad. After a little bit of experimenting with this loom, I figured out how to make a fishtail bracelet with beads on it. I chose butterflies and letter beads to form my name. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture, but I must say the result is quite good. I am having a fulfilling day at last. Patience does pay off.

This is my first time participating in the Tuesday Ten. I’ve been wanting to for a while, but usually I found other things to blog about on Tuesday. Either that, or I simply forgot. The theme for this week is “I need a patch for that”, because this is the weird holdiay celebration tomorrow. Lisa of The Golden Spoons, one of the hosts, wrote ten patches every mother needs. I got thinking about that. I’m not a Mom, so I can’t really expand on those. Then I got thinking: what would I like patches for? And here’s a list of pathes this autistic person would need. Some of them can be seen as “cures” for certain symptoms of autism, while others are work-around patches and still others are patches for the social stigma and misunderstanding I encoutner.

An anti-overload patch. Even though traditional autistic advocates say they would never take medication to hear or feel less, I certainly would. The thing about a patch, however, is that I can put it on and take it off again, unlike the daily medication I currently take for overload-caused irritability.

An energy patch. Stole this one from Lisa, but I too think I could benefit from it. Living as an autistic can be quite exhausting, after all.

A tolerance patch. To put on others when they have a strikingly intolerant attitude. Mostly staff, that is, so I don’t know how I’d get them to put it on, given that their attitude would prevent them from seeing they need it.

A translation patch. I usually misunderstand people and, rather than putting on a “communicate like a neurotypical” patch, I’d like a translator that sits between me and the neurotypical.

An easy text-to-speech patch. While we’re communicating anyway, I’d like to be able to write rather than speak. While text-to-speech apps are already available, I’d like one that I can easily use and that doesn’t make me look like a weirdo. I’d also like it to translate from speech to text (or braille, in my case). I’ve honestly been thinking of wanting a Communicator, which is a device used by deafblind people, but they’re very expensive and I’m not eligible for funds. i’m verbal, after all.

A patience patch. Again, this one is stolen from Lisa, and I’d like to put it on others again, though I could myself use some patience at times.

A perseveration patch. The good thing about patches again is the ability to put them on and take them off. Today, I’ve been looking everywhere for some perseveration, while at other times, I’m totally immersed in my special interest.

An antidepressant patch. I don’t suffer from clinical depression, but I do have days when I’m very depressed. Again, like the anti-overload patch, this would seem like a better alternative to my current daily antidepressant.

A patchwork weighted blanket: Lisa said patches can be any sort, so patchwork quilts are included. I’ve always wanted a weighted blanket, but never took the effort to find myself one.

An executive functioning patch: something like an anti-procrastination patch, but it’ll also break down difficult tasks into smaller, easy-to-follow steps.

Note that every autistic person is different. This is why I referred to “this autistic person” in my post title rather than “every autistic person”. If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person, after all. If you’d like to contribute what patches you could use in life, write a list of ten and hop over to Lisa’s blog to submit it.

Often when I turn to the Bible, to devotionals, or to other Christian writings or even music, I find myself drawn to verses that give hope, let me know that I’m not alone if I have faith in God. I do not turn to the Bible to dictate the morals I need to live by day-to-day, because I personally believe the Bible was inspired too much by the culture of its time for this. Rather, I look to the Bible for guidance in my spirutal life and my relationship with God. This verse speaks to this relationship and to how we as humans need to invest in it.

Be joyful in hope. Often, I find myself taking up the Bible and generally investing in my relationship with God only when I’m suffering. This verse calls upon us to also share in God as we have hope, and to be thankful to God for the works He does. This does not mean we need to praise God for every ounce of food we eat. In fact, praying for food has too much of a ritualistic connotation for me, as I was required to participate in it in school as a non-religious child. Rather, we need to be appreciative in our hearts, which God knows.

Be patient in affliction. Many people often wonder when their suffering will finally pass. This verse asks us to be patient while God meets our needs eventually. Often I and many others find ourselves falling into the trap of demanding instant gratification. However, other people are not required to fulfill our every wish, and, while God may possess some kind of magic wand, He is certainly not supposed to wave it whenever we think we need Him to.

Be faithful in prayer. God knows our needs, and He cares. Remember, needs are not wants, and we need to be patient for God to meet our true needs eventually. Being faithful in prayer means trusting God to take care of us when we’re having a hard time, and also being thankful for His caring when we’re doing well.

This verse, exept for the words on prayer, actually also speaks to non-Christians. If you believe in some other deity or spiritual figure, or even if you’re an atheist, you still need to be appreciative of what you have when you’re faring well, and patient for time to pass when you’re not.